The La Porte County Sheriff’s Department investigated two accidents and arrested one driver on suspicion of drunk driving.
Officers were called to the area of Wozniak Road and County Road 450 N. in rural Coolspring Township around 2:30 a.m. CT Thursday for a hit-and-run accident. A vehicle reportedly did damage to a fence, and a silver bumper was found in the lawn in the 7500 W. block of County Road 450 N, according to the report.
A short time later, officers learned of a second accident about three miles south of Wozniak Road near Surrey Lane. When an officer arrived at the scene, a silver passenger car was reportedly found overturned and resting on its roof along the northbound shoulder of Wozniak Road.
The driver, 27-year-old Lydia M. Bim-Merle, talked with police and police say she was impaired by alcohol. Bim-Merle was transported to the hospital for treatment and later released.
Upon further investigation, evidence at both crash sites connected Bim-Merle’s vehicle to both incidents, according to police.
Bim-Merle was arrested on preliminary charges of two counts of operating while intoxicated as a Class A Misdemeanor, operating while intoxicated as a Class C Misdemeanor, and failure to stop as a Class B Misdemeanor. She has since bonded out of the La Porte County Jail.
The La Porte County Sheriff’s Department was assisted at the scene by the Westville Police Department, La Porte County EMS, Coolspring Volunteer Fire Department, and Music Towing
Suspects are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.
